In a publishing environment, it is often desirable to form images on print media (such as a web or sheets of paper) and to then perform a finishing operation on that print media. Examples of finishing operations include cutting, folding, binding, and laminating. For example, a series of photographic images may be printed on a web and then each of the printed images cut from the web, stacked, and delivered to a customer.
To assist in automating such an image production process, eye-marks are formed next to images on print media. The eye-marks encode instructions that direct the performance of a finishing operation. When the print media is fed through a finishing device such as a cutter, the eye-marks are electronically read and the instructions they encode carried out.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which a series of images 10-14 are printed on web 16. Next to each image 10-14 is an eye-mark 18-22. In this example, eye-marks 18-22 each encode instructions indicating where web 16 is to be cut. When web 16 is fed through a cutting device, an optical scanner senses and reads each eye-mark. A processor controlling the operation of the cutting device deciphers the instructions encoded in each eye-mark and guides the operation of the cutting device accordingly.
It is not uncommon for a finishing device to malfunction. Using the example of FIG. 1, as web 16 is being fed through a cutting device, the device might malfunction as it is making a cut following the instructions encoded in eye-mark 20. In addition to remedying the malfunction, a machine operator may also need to record information about the affected region of web 16 in case any images 10, 12, or 14 need to be reprinted. Unfortunately, eye-marks 18-22 provide little assistance to the machine operator.